Thrift haul (& online shopping rant)

(Rant alert 🔔 for the first two paragraphs)
There are a lot of nice vintage clothes for sale on Etsy, but damn, it is expensive. I've seen a lot of skirts labelled "vintage" being sold 40$+ CAD. Most blouses are also 30$+ CAD. I didn't know vintage fashion online was that pricey. Some skirts are even stained or damaged (which is understandable because vintage is secondhand), but the seller still prices them very high. Is it normal or are most vintage items on Etsy overpriced? Add to that the shipping fees. This explains why I haven't bought anything (yet?) from the website. I concede I bought some expensive secondhand Liz Lisa pieces on Fril and Mercari, so maybe I'm being biased cuz the clothes on Etsy are not jfashion...

As for shopping in person, I'm pretty sure Montreal is home to cool thrift stores. I've looked them up on the Internet since they are hardly accessible by subway and I didn't want to bother going on multiple buses for nothing. That was a good idea because my research wound up disappointing. Not only the stores don't carry the type of clothes I'm looking for, but the prices are almost as costly. I do plan on going to some Value Village stores near my place, but that's all.

During the first two weeks of August, I took two weeks off from work and spent my summer vacations in my hometown. 🌿 I never believed the city where I had grown was gushing vintage stuff but it seems like it has more potential than I thought. I visited a couple of thrift stores, including the ones from charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army. The thrift stores where I found vintage/retro pieces in my style were actually places like these.

So here is my haul. I also indicated the prices (all in CAD) so you can assess the price contrast between buying vintage online versus in-person. Following this experience, I'm not too keen on buying vintage from online sellers anymore, especially on Etsy (of course, exceptions would be made when it's a really unique piece—free shipping would help too). And note that this thinking doesn't apply to retro pieces sold brand new in online stores.

I'm still away from my apartment, but I decided to take the pictures with my current phone. Although the quality is inferior to my former phone, it's undoubtedly better than what you get with the old Fujifilm camera.

Thrift store #1

Floral pleated skirt — 1$

Granted, this skirt may not be vintage, but I liked it the moment I saw it. The pictures don't really do it justice as the colours are more vibrant in real life (similar to the pic below).
What I liked about this skirt were the flowers in three different colours: violet, forest green and some grey-ish green/yellow. Coords ideas instantly flowed in my head (e.g. white sailor blouse from Fi.n.t with a purple or forest green cardigan and a round buckle belt).

I admit I wouldn't have bought it for 5$+, but for 1 buck this was definitely a steal.

My mom gave me this eggplant purple belt she had in her closet.

It goes perfectly with the skirt. ✨

I also really liked this blouse (0.50$ !!) but it was way too big for me:

I returned to that thrift store one week later, and sadly the blouse was gone...

Thrift store #2

Vintage blouses in red, grey and white — 3 for 5$

N.B. All three blouses were too big on me, so they were altered by my mother to fit me better.

Blouse #1

The colour of this blouse wasn't picked up correctly on my phone, but it's a very deep red. The condition is mint as if the previous owner barely wore it. I had been looking to add more colours into my wardrobe and this red wine piece will look nice with my Mia Mix beige plaid skirt or a navy one. I also liked the hidden button placket with a sole button placed where the collar.

Strangely, I had assumed that this blouse wouldn't be so big on me until I tried it on properly at home. It is actually the loosest among the three blouses; the waist, the sleeves circumference as well as their length were all adjusted. The shoulder seams were also shortened with an elastic on each side. Finally, the sleeve buttons had to be moved so that the sleeves (a bit too long) wouldn't cover my hands. The total length of the blouse is a wee bit long, but I tuck it inside a skirt anyway.

Shoulder seams were tightened with an elastic such as the yellow blouse.

This was also done for blouse #3. I absolutely love this tip.

Blouse #2

I love the colour of this blouse as it's very peculiar, like an icy grey. I plan on pairing it with dark-coloured bottoms.

In terms of size, the blouse is short but wide, so the waist had to be reduced as well as the circumference of the sleeves.

Blouse #3

When I first tried on this blouse, I wasn't fond of it. I don't remember exactly why, but I didn't think it looked great on me. It was actually my mom who talked me into getting it. Well, I'm so happy I listened to her because it is probably my favourite blouse out of the three. It fits extremely well. I can fasten the top button and it still looks really pretty. As for the size, the length is perfect and the waist + sleeves circumference had to be only slightly altered.

Ending this post with a picture of a piece of forest cake from Walmart. I feared it would taste like chemicals, but actually, it tastes AMAZING: